Making room for bigger front tires

[Opentracker]

Two things get in the way of big front tires. The fender and the shock tower outer brace. The fender can be worked to fit a larger tire and so can the shock tower brace. On a track car with a lot of neg. camber the shock tower brace can get in the way.

I found that if I made a cut just behind the hole for the bump stop, most of the brace on the back could still be used.

I made a paper template for the 1/8" plate that will be welded in.

A shot from the back showing the stock brace I will be welding to and the piece I cut out.

Here you can see how much was taken off. It's a little over 3/4".

Once again I have to thank Cobra Automotive for the idea. It only took a few minutes and should give me the room I need to run 245/45/16's up front. It will all get welded up and ground smooth. I could even bolt on a smaller bump stop if I wanted too. Free mods are the best.


John

 

[MrBobMarley]

Man what an idea. Let us know how it turns out man. Free mods rock, I could sure use some more.

 

[crushnut]

Ive got 245's up front, and i didnt have to do that

 

[1320stang]

Ive got 245's up front, and i didnt have to do that

I've got 31x10.5's up front and didn't have to do it either. Matter of fact, what I have 31x10.5's on doesn't even have that piece.

BTW, he's running a '65-'66 body which is a little more petite than you're '68.

 

[crushnut]

I've got 31x10.5's up front and didn't have to do it either. Matter of fact, what I have 31x10.5's on doesn't even have that piece.

BTW, he's running a '65-'66 body which is a little more petite than you're '68.

Ah, ok i see

 

[dodgestang]

Ah, ok i see

He also runs a track car with MAJOR tire angle for corners

 

[Opentracker]

Sorry..........Photo of said car........................................

Wifes car. She is on a 2:15 lap around Laguna right now. Damn fast for anyone. It runs 225/50/16's up front and 245/45/16's out back. I was working on making most of this stuff. These were the last part.

Neet stuff but it cost a lot. I would rather make it myself, so I did.


John

 

[bnickel]

john, i'm glad you decided to make all that stuff yourself, now i can follow in your footsteps

 

[1320stang]

John, I think when I finally get around to my '65 coupe, I'm going to have to emulate your car. Kind of a cross between your car and DM's Terlingua car. Do you have any pics of it sitting still that are from about the same angle? I'd like to compare it to the cover of the M&F from July.

I've been wanting to do a Trans Am styled car for years, but I also want to be able to take the occasional jaunt on the street.

Larry

 

[Opentracker]

This car doesn't sit still much. It does see a LOT of street miles, we drove it to LA from our house (8hr each way) twice. It stays in race trim all the time except for tires and front end alignment settings. The street tires are T/A's on real Minilite wheels, 14X7. That Terlingua car is a cool one. I thik it sits too high. I have some other issues with it but the 50K selling price is high for a car without sub frame connectors and won't make sound at the tracks it runs at. It is a nice piece of work, I would love to drive one. We have under 10K in our car. I was at the 7K point when I did our first open track event. That included the price of the car, cost of the Cleveland and not selling the '69 Boss 302 that came in it. In that condition the car ran a 1:53 at Laguna. With the stuff I'm doing now it should get into the 1:40s and still be driven to the track and driven home. We don't tow this car to Laguna. My wife loves taking it to work.



I'll be glad to help anytime.


John

 

[1320stang]

Well, I live in Oklahoma, and Hallet is about the only place close I could take it regularly. Although hitting the oval down in Fort Worth could be fun. I saw the Terlingua car first hand at the Tulsa Shelby meet and I agree it sits too high. I plan on a stroker 302 based motor or maybe a 351W based stroker, either with aluminum heads to take weight off the front end. I'd like to go with some 15" Minilite knockoffs for the street. I've loved the '67 Shelby hood on the early cars since I saw one about 15 years ago at the Ark City drag strip on a 'vert. My favorite car is the '67 body style, but the early car makes a better track car in my opinion. Hopefully when I'm done, I'll have a '63 Fairlane Nostalgia Super Stock drag car with an FE and a '65 coupe I can road course race. Are there any rules I need to be aware of in order to compete in some type sanctioning body? On the '63, I was going to put a SBF in it to race, but then all I'd be able to do would be to bracket race it, with the FE I'll be able to run NSS or bracket race it, I want the Mustang to fall within some guidelines so that I might be able to compete with it somewhere. Or start a AI South series.

Larry

 

[Opentracker]

Took me a week but I got one of 'em done. It looks like 7/8" more room.

John

 

[xj220]

What are the minimum mods I'd need to run 17x8's all around on my 66 (assume smallest rubber possible)? Good idea though. No loss of structural integrity?

 

[dodgestang]

You don't need to make any mods to the car to run 17x8s on a 66.
Visist the wheel chart linked in my signature.

 

[dodgestang]

Took me a week but I got one of 'em done. It looks like 7/8" more room.

John

Hey John did your mod really save you the 7/8 or was it simply cleaning all that crud off that did the trick

hehehe.....looks nice and shiny.

 

[Opentracker]

Thats 40 year old Ford crud. It's the spray on undercoating they used. Must be good stuff, it's been there the whole time. This mod is just for track cars. If you don't run a lot of camber and a big race tire, you don't need it.

John

 

[Snail50]

nice job on the modification.